Cardiff vs Sale Heineken preview

The Blues are definitely on the up, with the narrowest of victories over Biarritz, and a very hard fought match against Leinster which did not go in their favour when the failed to dot down a scoring try almost at the end of the match which would have brought them victory. Forwards win matches and we know Cardiff is a team with a big strong pack, experienced and very streetwise in the black arts of scrimmaging. The front three of Yap, now added to the welsh squad, Williams, motm against Biarritz, and Ben Evans, locked by Quinnell and Moore are a formidable front five. The back row led by an outstanding Martin Williams, Thomas and Brownrigg who had an impressive debut year with Bristol, but followed by years in the wilderness of injury. How will we match up against them? We have definitely improved and are capable of holding them in the tight. The line out is our real forte and with the rich vein of form we see from Jones and Fullerton, should continue. If we play the same back three we need Axe to be on top form to match Martin Williams. Against Biarritz we had a good sufficient possession to win, but we need to cut out all those errors seen on Sunday. I would expect the same reserves, Lund, Day, Roddam and Stewart to make their mark as they did on Sunday.

Halfbacks are a problem selection for us. Only Wiggy is available at 9 with Jos retaining the 10 shirt, probably for the last time. Powell and Robinson played against Leinster but they have Iestyn Harris and Peel in contention. The backline will probably remain unchanged. BVS must play at 12 for obvious reasons with Bond at outside centre. Going made an impact when he came on to the field late in the match on Sunday so J & S may consider him starting at full back thus releasing Jason for a wing position. Whatever the combination I think we need to improve our passing game and vary our attack if we are to win this final pool match.

The Arms Park is one of those special ground steeped in the history of the game; a ground we seldom visit so it is imperative that we take the game to the Blues. Last year we took a weakened team to Stradey Park and gave them one “hell of a game” and only lost at the very end . We have shown that we can compete at this level. With a high level of concentration and the right attitude we can win.

Since this preview was written, the Sale team has been anounced:

Vaughan Going; James Hoyle, Chris Mayor, Braam van Straaten, Steve Hanley; Jos Baxendell, Richard Wigglesworth; Barry Stewart, Johnny Roddam, Stuart Turner; Dean Schofield, Chris Day; Ben Lloyd, Magnus Lund, Alex Sanderson.

Reps: Kevin Yates, Matt Cairns, Andrew Kyriacou, Jason White, Chris Jones, Jason Robinson + one other